


tripwire

by kaneki_coffee



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Battle, Heroes, M/M, Oisuga Week, Oisuga Week 2016, Rivalry, Sci-Fi, day 1 and 4, minor character death not very graphic at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 21:36:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7454758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaneki_coffee/pseuds/kaneki_coffee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“When have you ever beaten me?” Sugawara dodged another barrage of bullets, using the walls to remain hovering just out of reach. He needed a strategy, a new plan. Oikawa’s very presence had changed everything.</p><p>“Four times!” Oikawa taunted with a laugh.</p><p>“Not in a fair fight,” Sugawara countered, switching off his gravboots to plummet closer, swinging a roundhouse kick aimed at Oikawa’s face as he fell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	tripwire

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1 and 4 prompts for Oisuga week!

It was late. That was all Sugawara knew as he shifted his weight, his senses on high alert. The shadows of the day had lengthened until the unfamiliar landscape around him was shrouded in the night. Even the moon was dimly lit, hidden beneath a blanket of thick clouds. He had been huddled on the roof for hours, silently suffering in the humidity, waiting for the signal.

“Target is moving,” a voice buzzed in his ear. “You’ve got ten minutes, Suga.”

Sugawara flicked his hand, letting his armguard unhinge around his wrist to slide a glowing orange blade into his palm. Energy leaped and snapped off the serrated edge like electricity, but he ignored it. “What do you need me to do, Ukai?” he asked as he leaned over the edge of the roof to glance at the dirt road below, searching for any sign of movement. He blinked twice in succession, and his vision warped for a fracture of a second to reveal he was alone. No heat signatures in the area. 

“Just run harassment until further notice. Your job is to keep them from picking us off from the roofs. And don’t get any fancy ideas of glory; I’m not paying to stitch you up.”

“So stingy,” Sugawara mock pouted. 

“What was that?”   


“I said I’m ready,” Sugawara sang innocently, biting his lip to hide his smile. “Switching to silent mode.”

“See you on the other side,” Ukai replied, his voice followed by a click as the comms switched off. 

Alone and once again in silence, Sugawara returned to the shadows and flicked his night vision on. Despite Ukai’s warning not to get injured, he wasn’t expecting to get into that big of a fight; their mercenary group was good at their job. He was nothing but a precaution, a safety net in case they slipped. And slipping was very, very rare.

Their job was simple, one they had run over a hundred times. Just a hit and run, seizing a shipment of medical supplies. He had led the recon team beforehand, had scouted the facility and hacked into their database to discover when they would transfer the merchandise to the cargo ship. Now it was only a matter of overpowering the other side and hijacking the escorted hovercraft, which would be easy enough. They had the advantage of surprise. There was only so much a team of hired heroes could do to try to counter that.

In three hours, Sugawara would be homebound to the outer planets, where he could take a well-deserved vacation. 

A flicker of movement flashed in the corner of his eye and he twisted to follow it, instinctively blinking to switch to his thermal lenses. A mass of muted red and green, the heat signature of a cyborg, was quickly clambering onto a neighboring roof, setting up for a sniping position. The building was higher than Sugawara’s, and closer to the road that the cargo would travel along, giving them a clear shot of any attackers. It would’ve been perfect, if they hadn’t been caught.

Sugawara smiled predatorily. Heroes were easy pickings these days it seemed. He hadn’t expected to find a sniper, but if this was their only long-distance support, then they had obviously not been expecting much trouble. Their mistake.

He kicked his gravboots into gear, allowing himself to rise a few inches, wobbling for a split second until his body adjusted to the weightless feeling. He needed to get closer to the sniper to use the knife in his hand. It might’ve been faster to use a gun, but he didn’t want to give away his presence just yet. Besides, it felt good to stretch his legs after sitting in place for so long. A little exercise was good for him.

Kicking his feet into motion, he leaned forward and shot ahead, propelling himself across the gap until he clung to the edge of a window frame with the fingers of his free hand. Anyone else would’ve fallen, but Sugawara was ready. He amped the power of the gravboots to maximum and used his knife hand to balance himself as he made his slow ascent. Speed wasn’t his goal; he had six minutes before the target would reach where the rest of his team was hiding. The hovercraft wouldn’t come within sight of the sniper for another four minutes.

It took one minute to reach the top. Thirty seconds to cross the distance. Fifteen to silently take the sniper out, using his dagger to smash through the cyborg’s helmet and dig out the communications chip found beneath, using his other hand to rip away the cords connecting the rifle to the sniper’s vision. The combination of assaults sent the cyborg’s system into shock and they slumped forward without a noise. 

His main objective taken care of, Sugawara dragged the limp body away from the edge. Their system wouldn’t reboot for at least another 24 hours, and they wouldn’t remember what had hit them when they awoke. Just how Sugawara liked it, and in record time, too.

“Well, that wasn’t very nice,” a light voice mused in a conversational tone behind him. “They owed me money.”

Sugawara whipped around, instinctively slicing his knife through the air, arcs of electricity jumping off in search of prey. 

The intruder danced away, just narrowly avoiding the swing. “Suga-chan, I’ve already shaved today,” he teased. His playful voice didn’t match his actions– a pair of twin blasters slid into his hands and he fired, aiming for Sugawara’s chest as he spoke.

Sugawara was already on the move, kicking his gravboots into gear and surging to his left at a sickening speed. The energy bullets shot across into empty space, leaving nothing behind but a neon blue trail that dissipated in seconds. “Oikawa,” he greeted, blinking to night vision as he twisted in the air and flung his knife. “Didn’t know you’d be here.”

“You tripped my security program,” Oikawa explained pleasantly as he ducked beneath the knife, wincing as a stray spark scorched his cheek. “Our client upped the squad.”

“He could hire you? Didn’t think he had the money.”  
  
Oikawa laughed as he fired at Sugawara’s feet, pausing only momentarily to let the hissing pistols charge again. “He doesn’t. Half the money from this shipment will be my pay, so you’ll have to forgive me when I kill you.” 

Sugawara took the moment between bursts of bullets to amp the power in his gravboots and shoot into the air. “No need to apologize,” he called as he unclenched his fist, fingers blossoming open like the petals of a flower. His knife rematerialized in his palm, shining orange, the only source of light on his person. “When have you ever beaten me?” He dodged another barrage of bullets, using the walls to remain hovering just out of reach. He needed a strategy, a new plan. Oikawa’s very presence had changed everything.

“Four times!” Oikawa taunted with a laugh.

“Not in a fair fight,” Sugawara countered, switching off his gravboots to plummet closer, swinging a roundhouse kick aimed at Oikawa’s face as he fell.

Oikawa raised a forearm to block, shoving him violently back with a feral snarl.

“Getting feisty, don’t you think?” Sugawara huffed with a grin, eyes locking onto Oikawa’s trigger fingers, waiting for the telltale twitch. Sweat trickled down his back and plastered his light hair to his forehead, but he was too focused now to care. You didn’t fight Oikawa and win; you survived, if you were good. Otherwise, you died. It was as simple as that. He needed to devote all his energy to the duel.

“You know me best, Suga-chan,” Oikawa confessed, pausing from battle to regard Sugawara. “How long has it been?”

“Three years,” Sugawara replied as he walked backwards, carefully stepping over the body of the cyborg he had taken out, “going on four.”

Oikawa whistled. “Four years,” he repeated. “That’s a long time spent trying to kill each other. Puts a slight damper on our relationship, don’t you think?”

“I’m not trying to kill you, Oikawa. Although, I will admit that it seems you’re chasing me across the system. How many missions have you interrupted?”   
  
“What can I say?” Oikawa grinned. “Your group makes big ripples, and it’s easy to track. The pay’s always good when I’m against you.”

Sugawara sighed. “I’m glad you get to make money off our reputation.”

“It’s not  _ my _ fault you guys are good. My clients get scared, they have to hire the best heroes to protect themselves.”

“You make my job difficult.”

“I make your job  _ exciting _ ,” Oikawa challenged, meeting Sugawara’s gaze, eyes flashing dangerously. “Don’t try to tell me you haven’t missed the thrill of the fight. It’s what we’re best at, it always has been.”

Sugawara stiffened and stared back, refusing to admit that he had relaxed in Oikawa’s presence. “I’m on the other side of the fight now,” he reminded harshly, settling into a base stance, ready to fight or flee. “We can’t change that.”

Oikawa looked disappointed but raised his pistols in response. “It’s not the same without you here,” he complained as he cocked them into a different mode. The guns whined as they began collecting a charge. “It’s no fun playing hero for these rich assholes anymore.”

“You could always stop,” Sugawara suggested, eyeing the guns warily. He knew the damage they could do to a person, had witnessed it firsthand. He slid his second knife from his other armguard cautiously.

“Ah,” Oikawa laughed, training the guns onto Sugawara, “but where’s the fun in that?” He fired, and an explosive blue charge erupted from both guns, forceful enough to knock him backwards.

In a split second, Sugawara shot both a quick prayer to the sky and his knives hurtling to where Oikawa had fallen. He rolled to the ground and hauled the fallen cyborg upright, just in time to shield himself from the blast. Their death was near instant, the brunt of the charge gouging a blackening, burning hole into their metal chest, frying all circuit boards and anything human beneath. Immediately, the air smelled of burnt skin and molten metal, the stench so strong that it sent Sugawara stumbling back, gagging. He hadn’t fully escaped the explosion of energy– his hand was badly burnt and throbbing, his armor’s shields had been largely depleted, but he was alive. That was enough.

Eyes stinging from the smoke, he desperately blinked to his thermal lenses filter, searching for Oikawa. He was rising from his fall, a shifting blob of red and green. When he emerged, he stumbled through the smoke until Sugawara was in sight. 

“You’re good,” Oikawa said between pained pants. It wasn’t praise so much as a statement. “You always were, though.” Blood trickled down from a slice on his cheek and he limped ever so slightly, but otherwise looked unharmed.

Sugawara’s knives rematerialized in his palms and he winced as he gripped the hilt with his burned hand. “I get your leg?” Sugawara asked, huffing.

Oikawa shifted and raised his leg, rotating his foot in a full circle and bending his knee. “Wrong leg,” he said sympathetically. “You just nicked a rod, nothing I can’t handle.”

“Damn,” Sugawara cursed. 

“Although,” Oikawa continued, “if you’re going to kill me, at least spare the leg. My mechanic would raise me from the dead just to kill me again for wrecking it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sugawara said as he tucked the blade in his burned hand back into its arm guard. He couldn’t use the hand anyway, and he was more likely to stab himself than do any damage. He needed a strategy, but so far the flow of the fight had been in Oikawa’s hands. 

The sound of revving engines sounded through the air and Sugawara raised his head in alarm. He had allowed himself to be distracted, had forgotten the mission. He hadn’t even switched his comms back on, he realized in horror as he flicked silent mode off. 

“Ukai!” he shouted over the roar of engines, desperately listening for a response. “Status!”

“Dammit, Suga, they jumped us! They knew! We’re taking heavy fire, we’ve gotta pull out! Get your ass over here!” Ukai yelled back over the sound of gunfire. “We’re aborting the mission!”   


Sugawara cursed under his breath as he watched the hovercraft, their target, fly past on the road, kicking up a storm of dirt. He didn’t have the weaponry or power to stop it; he just needed to escape now. Already, he had spent too much time with eyes off of Oikawa. He twisted, snarl ready on his lips, raising his knife wildly.

And was met with a brush of lips on his cheek. For a moment, Oikawa was pressed to his chest and then his warmth was gone, jumping off the roof with a quick laugh. “I’ll see you at home, Suga-chan,” he called teasingly before disappearing from view. “Five wins for me!”

Sugawara stared after him, hand to his cheek. “Dammit,” he muttered grudgingly, staring after him. “We need new jobs.”

**Author's Note:**

> This'll probably be my only entry for the week since I'm working on so many other fics at the moment, but I wanted to get SOMETHING out for them y'know, even if it was small.
> 
> tumblr: otooru  
> twitter: shironekki
> 
> (also....this is so unedited...i'll get to that when i have time asdlhkfjkl)


End file.
